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Man Killed During Struggle With Police In West Englewood

Man Killed during struggle with police In West Englewood. (Credit: CBS)

CHICAGO (CBS) — Police in the South Side West Englewood neighborhood Saturday killed a man who is suspected of breaking into trucks in traffic, and of robbing a trucker at gunpoint minutes before his confrontation with police.

After the man’s death, family members who came to the scene allegedly confronted police and injured several officers in the ensuing melee, which ended with nine arrests.

Police said the events leading up to the fatal shooting by police began when four armed gunmen robbed a trucker, jumped into a car near 38th Street and Kedzie Avenue, and sped off shortly before 11 a.m.

Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said preliminary reports indicated that minutes later, two officers on patrol spotted a car matching the getaway car’s description speeding near Ashland Avenue and Garfield Boulevard, and gave chase.

McCarthy said that when the car hit a light pole, four of the men escaped, but said the fifth may have been hit by the squad car as it stopped.

McCarthy said when the officers, one male and one female, jumped from their squad car, a brawl ensued in which the man who had been struck allegedly body-slammed the male officer twice.

During that confrontation, the male officer thought he saw a gun and advised his partner.

Then, McCarthy said, the man allegedly turned on the female officer.

“Based on the male officer saying that he had a gun, she was in fear, obviously, and she fired twice, striking him and he succumbed to his injuries,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said the wounds proved to be fatal. The man had no gun; McCarthy said what was thought to be a gun turned out being a flashlight.

But that’s not all.

McCarthy said that as police conducted their on-scene investigation, members of the deceased man’s family arrived, allegedly began throwing bricks, rocks and bottles and then attacked officers, resulting in nine arrests and injuries to several officers.

McCarthy could not give details of the injuries to the investigating officers.

Bob RobertsBob Roberts is a native of Wilmette who has worked in Chicago media for all but four years of a career dating back to 1974.
He attended St. Francis...More fromBob Roberts